Mon
Jun
9
“ So what’s in store for Lithuania? A plaque at the Vilnius airport provides some clue to the Lithuanian spirit of achievement. The text salutes Lithuanians Darius and Girenas who in 1933 attempted the second (yes, second) longest transatlantic flight. The pair crashed and died in a German forest 670 kilometers short of their destination. They are still, reads the plaque, the “most popular heroes in our country.” Of course, the story suffers from the Lithuanians’ inability to tell it in English. From reading material available at the airport, you’d think Darius and Girenas were a couple of schmucks. But they were actually qualified pilots carrying the world’s first transatlantic air shipment of mail. At the time, they made aviation history and would have made more, except for the crashing and dying part. Another part of the story you won’t find at the airport: When they made their flight, Darius and Girenas had already emigrated to America.
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